Abu Dhabi -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- All indications are that sanctions against Iran are really starting to bite and this time it is coming from the oil ministry in Tehran , which for months has denied that oil production was suffering due to international pressure .

In an interview with the Iranian Student News Agency -LRB- ISNA -RRB- , Gholam Reza Kateb a member of the national planning and budget committee in Parliament referenced a report from Iran 's oil minister Rostam Qasemi . In that report , the minister suggested that oil revenues in the country plummeted 40 percent , while gas and gas products ' export revenues fell by 45 % compared to the same period last year .

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This is a hot button issue in Iran , where the currency due to sanctions has dropped 80 percent from its peak in 2011 . The Iranian people are faced with spiralling inflation and job layoffs within the state sector .

I spoke with a source in Iran 's representative office to OPEC who declined to comment and referred all matters to the Oil Ministry . A spokesman at the state oil company Iran Petroleum would only say `` in this political climate it is difficult to confirm these statements . ''

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Hours later , a spokesman from the Ministry told another Iranian news agency , Mehr , that the numbers quoted about revenue and production drops are not true , although he offered no specific numbers .

Until this report to the Iranian Parliament , Minister Qasemi has maintained that Iran 's production was hovering around four million barrels a day , where it was two years ago .

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Back at the OPEC Seminar in June 2012 , the minister told me that sanctions would not have any influence on plans to expand production and investment , shrugging off questions that suggested otherwise . This despite analysis to the contrary from the Paris based International Energy Agency and Vienna based OPEC of which Iran is a member .

The IEA back in July suggested that Iraq surpassed Iran in production for the first time in over two decades and production in Iran dipped to 2.9 million barrels a day . OPEC in its October 2012 survey said it slipped to 2.72 million at the time Minister Qasemi said output remained at 4 million barrels .

Minister Qasemi was recently quoted at a conference in Tehran that Iran needs to invest $ 400 billion over the next five years to maintain production targets and to play catch up after years of under investment .

Iran is a land full of potential . According to the annual BP Statistical Review , Iran sits on nearly 10 percent of the world 's proven reserves at 137 billion barrels . The South Pars field which it shares with Qatar is one of the largest natural gas fields in the world -- but Iran , due to sanctions , can not expand development .

This is a highly charged period . With elections in mid-June , it remains unclear how energy policy will evolve after the era of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad passes . It has been eight years of his tough line against Washington , Brussels and other governments that put forth sanctions against Iran . It is not clear if a new President will usher in a new nuclear development policy to ease the pressure on Iran 's energy sector and the country 's people .

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The IEA has suggested Iraq surpassed Iran in output for the first time in over 20 years

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The Iranian people are faced with spiralling inflation and job layoffs within the state sector

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Iranian oil revenues in the country plummeted 40 percent , while gas export revenues fell by 45 %